In German Published Patent Application No. 198 39 521, a safety device for a motor vehicle including a front-end structure and a front bulkhead, which separates the front-end structure from an interior, is described. Fixed to the front bulkhead is a brake apparatus including a brake cylinder. In the front end, furthermore, on the body shell structure, a mechanical forced guidance device is provided, which interact with a supporting attachment disposed on a brake cylinder of the brake apparatus. In the event of a vehicle crash in which the front end is deformed, the mechanical forced guidance device is displaced in the direction of the brake apparatus. If the deformation is great enough, the mechanical forced guidance device acts upon the supporting flange on the brake cylinder and brings about a purposeful pivot motion of the brake apparatus. The brake apparatus is connected to brake pedals protruding into the interior. Through the pivoting of the brake apparatus, the brake pedals are swung out of the foot well.
It is additionally conventional to provide structural elements and assemblies disposed in the front-end structure, such as, for example, an engine, with special forced guidance device assigned to the brake apparatus. To this end, reference is made, for example, to Japanese Published Patent Application No. 10-338167. From this, it is also conventional to provide the brake cylinder of a brake apparatus with a device for pivoting the brake apparatus, which, in the event of a vehicle crash, interacts with structural elements disposed in the front-end structure.